Keywords
land use conflicts, land use planning, water management, water quality, tidal effects
Start Date
1-7-2006 12:00 AM
Abstract
Tidal effects and salinity intrusion are two defining characteristics of coastal zones. The firstcauses complex variations of water level and unsteady flows in the river and canal network. The second is aconstraint to agriculture and freshwater fishery, but provides suitable conditions for brackish wateraquaculture. These phenomena bring about conflicts in the development of agriculture, fishery andaquaculture due to different requirements of water quality. Hydraulic and salinity modeling have beendeveloped and applied to simulate tidal propagation and salinity intrusion, and to analyze the effects of watermanagement on hydrological and salinity conditions that control land use in the coastal zones. This paperpresents experiences in developing and applying a hydraulic and salinity model, the Vietnam River Systemsand Plains (VRSAP), for water resources development in Ca Mau Peninsula, Mekong Delta, Vietnam.During the planning and feasibility study phase in 1989-1991 that focused on rice production, this model wasused to analyze the impacts of protection from salinity intrusion for different water management units.During the implementation and operation phase from 1992 to the present, it has been used to find out suitablesluice operation schedules for improving agricultural production in the region. Recently, because conflicts inthe requirement of fresh water for agriculture and brackish water for shrimp culture occurred, the model isbeing refined and applied to upscale the effects of intaking saline water and supplying fresh water from thefield to canal system level, and also to analyze the effect of sluice operation on the hydrological conditionsthat would accommodate both agriculture and aquaculture in different parts of the region.
Predicting Impacts of Water Management in Coastal Zones by Hydraulic and Salinity Modeling
Tidal effects and salinity intrusion are two defining characteristics of coastal zones. The firstcauses complex variations of water level and unsteady flows in the river and canal network. The second is aconstraint to agriculture and freshwater fishery, but provides suitable conditions for brackish wateraquaculture. These phenomena bring about conflicts in the development of agriculture, fishery andaquaculture due to different requirements of water quality. Hydraulic and salinity modeling have beendeveloped and applied to simulate tidal propagation and salinity intrusion, and to analyze the effects of watermanagement on hydrological and salinity conditions that control land use in the coastal zones. This paperpresents experiences in developing and applying a hydraulic and salinity model, the Vietnam River Systemsand Plains (VRSAP), for water resources development in Ca Mau Peninsula, Mekong Delta, Vietnam.During the planning and feasibility study phase in 1989-1991 that focused on rice production, this model wasused to analyze the impacts of protection from salinity intrusion for different water management units.During the implementation and operation phase from 1992 to the present, it has been used to find out suitablesluice operation schedules for improving agricultural production in the region. Recently, because conflicts inthe requirement of fresh water for agriculture and brackish water for shrimp culture occurred, the model isbeing refined and applied to upscale the effects of intaking saline water and supplying fresh water from thefield to canal system level, and also to analyze the effect of sluice operation on the hydrological conditionsthat would accommodate both agriculture and aquaculture in different parts of the region.
